Sir, - For decades, town planners, architects, developers and public utilities have endeavoured to improve the appearance of our city by cleaning and restoring existing buildings and streetscapes. A major part of this improvement and development has been the "undergrounding" of cables and services. To undo all the good work of generations in one fell swoop, with an overground Luas would be a major aesthetic disaster. The published artists' impressions of selected sections of the project show a labyrinth of overhead cabling, supports and columns, with tram tracks in the centre of the streets. One has only to look at the detrimental visual effect that similar systems have had on other cities to realise the impact that the new tram proposals would have on Dublin.
Articles by your environment correspondent and your editorials to date have failed to adequately comment on this aspect of the overground Luas option. It may be that bringing back tramcars is part of the solution to Dublin's traffic problems and it may be that the compromise "up and down" solution as currently proposed by the Government is an appropriate response.
The costs should be put in perspective. After all, the cost difference between the various Luas options is only that of a beef tribunal or so. Measured in terms of the effect for future generations of Dubs, the difference is enormous.
I am pleased that some level of commitment is made to this side of the Liffey. - Yours, etc., V. K. Barry, FRIAI,
Griffith Avenue, Dublin 9.